Umbreon by Night
by Eidorian999
Summary: An Umbreon living in a city. Add an injured Leafeon mate, pokenappers, aggressive adolescent pokemon. Did I forget to mention that the two eeveelutions are trying to get out of the city? No? Well, you know now.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, this is my first attempt at a pokemon fic. This is about an Umbreon living in a city. It's a big, industrialised city, the kind that has permanent smog over most of it.**

**He has a Leafeon mate (Some human was dumb enough to throw a leaf stone at her as an eevee. They didn't know what it was.) who isn't in the best of condition. They're trying to get out of the city.**

**Easier said than done.  
**

* * *

An Umbreon at night, even if on it's own, is not a force to be trifled with. Regretfully, a lot of adolescent pokemon, although they instinctively know that it's not a good idea to get in a fight with one, completely ignore their instincts.

'Why does this childish Meowth always think it can get the best of me?' Sleek thought, jumping clear over the head of said pokemon, casually firing a confuse ray over his shoulder. 'He never even touches me, and yet he's always full of swagger, always trying to satisfy his own self image.'

Shaking his head ruefully at the foolishness of youth, Sleek continued walking further into town. He had no time to fulfil the Meowth's wishes to be pummelled tonight. Tonight was Soft's birthday, and Arceus help anything that prevented him from getting to her. Last year had been all but ruined because some fool had let a Magnezone loose, and it had taken offence at Sleek existing. THAT had not ended well. Not only had he almost been caught by that Officer Jenny and her Growlithe (Curse the both of them to an eternity in Giratina's world) but he had also gotten a scolding from Soft about his injuries.

Something like that was never pleasant. He hated seeing his Leafeon mate in distress over anything, let alone annoyed and angry because HE had very nearly ruined her special night for her. He still shuddered with guilt whenever he thought about it.

'Still, the city seems rather quiet tonight. Thank Arceus… I really do hate the noise of this place sometimes. Can't wait until Soft is ready to move a bit further out of the city. Darn air pollution fouling up her synthesis…'

Soft had been badly injured by a stray Monferno about two weeks ago, and she was still trying to recover from the attack.

The problem: Soft's ability to heal and recover depended on the weather. The weather in this city was not pleasant. Ever. Perpetual smog hung over the centre of it, and there were usually foul grey clouds over the rest. Soft wasn't quite up to travelling further out of the city yet. But in order for her to heal faster, she needed to. Unlike Sleek, who simply had to find a patch of deep shadow to speed his healing up a fraction, or better yet, wait 'till night. At night, he healed fast enough that you could literally watch the skin repair itself. A first degree burn would be gone in two minutes or less.

Sleek turned a corner, slipping into shadows. He didn't want another adrenaline pumped pokemon trying to jump him.

'Just two more streets, and I'll be home and dry,' he thought happily.

He was headed to one of the few parks in the city. Parks were really the only place a Leafeon could even consider living in, in this sprawled out mess of a city. Anywhere else, and the pollution would be a rapidly accelerated death. Sure, they could travel through it, but if they weren't at full strength, they'd be in a bad way by the time they stopped. The parks were few and far between. Sleek had, in fact, been trying to find the quickest way to the next park he and Soft were going to go to. The next step towards being out of here.

Sleek started running as their park came into view. He couldn't help himself. He had only been away for a day and a half, but he had sorely missed being in Soft's company during that time.

"You sure you saw that Leafeon around here?"

Sleek stopped dead.

"Yeah, 'course I'm sure. Park's gotta be the only place it can live in, ain't it?"

Human voices. Much too mature to be teenagers. And they sounded slightly drunk. And they were talking about a Leafeon. His Leafeon.

None of the above factors painted a pleasant image.

'Soft!' Sleek thought desperately, breaking out into a run again. He couldn't allow them to find Soft. Humans trying to find a pokemon in a city when it didn't belong to them had only a few explanations. And all of them involved pokenapping. Soft wouldn't be able to put up any sort of a fight, not in her current condition. He had to get to her before the humans did!

"Come on, that thing's in here somewhere! Probably it's hiding under one of dem bushes. I heard they like stayin' close to da ground."

"You only hear things when they got somethin' to do wit money!"

"Shut your gobs and find it!"

Sleek crawled up behind one of them with his mouth open, preparing to fire a shadow ball. If nothing else, it would grab the guy's attention. And he knew his power well enough to know that it would do more than just that.

The instant he had a clear shot, he fired, straight between the man's shoulder blades. The ball exploded, knocking the man clean off his feet, headfirst into a tree trunk. Sleek quickly concealed himself by jumping up a tree. In the current light, he'd be all but invisible.

"What tha hell was that?"

"Sometin's knocked Dave out!"

"Keep looking! We can't expect to sell a Leafeon for a good price if we don't even have the bloody Leafeon!"

Sleek lost it right there. NO ONE was going to even _try_ to sell Soft. Not over his own dead body!

He leaped down out of the tree, landing right behind another one of the men. Before he could turn around, Sleek fired a dark pulse at his head, sending him tumbling, head over heels. He dashed forward towards another one, jumping and using iron tail to land a blow at the base of his spine. The pain of it quickly sent him into unconsciousness. Upon landing, Sleek looked around, checking to see if any of the humans had spotted him yet. He wasn't quite sure how many there were, but he knew that there were at least another three.

"Everyone! Get together!"

'Ah, thank you so much for your help,' Sleek thought with a grin on his face. 'That makes my job much easier.'

Sleek watched as they remaining men all grouped together.

'Four more,' he thought. 'I can handle four. I just have to get in the middle of them and use a broad dark pulse. That'll take care of 'em.' With his plan in mind, Sleek quickly climbed up another tree, and tried to get above them, jumping agilely from and to the nearest tree branches. He couldn't afford long jumps, they'd spot him.

He watched the group carefully, not wanting to miss one of them moving away.

"I've had enough of this…" one of them mumbled, pulling out a red and white sphere. Sleek paused. Whatever pokemon this guy was about to send out, Sleek would have to knock out quickly, before the men could surround him.

"Go, Kadabra!" FLASH.

Sleek couldn't help but laugh. A pokemon like that would probably fall from a single shadow ball.

The Kadabra looked around at it's owner.

"Find the Leafeon that's living in this park! Then catch it!"

"Dabra!"

Before the psychic pokemon could even take a step, Sleek formed a shadow ball and fired, hitting it squarely in the chest.

"I don't think so, pally!" he growled at it, forming another attack.

"Kadabra, use psychic! Knock that thing out!"

Sleek didn't bother waiting for the attack to happen, firing his attack before Kadabra could determine where he was.

The ball hit with more power than previously, exploding and knocking it back into the group of humans.

Leaping down before they could rally themselves, he ran into the centre of them, and let out a small howl as he fired a dark pulse all around himself.

The sudden silence was exactly what he had been hoping to hear. He sighed softly.

'Good. Now I've got to find Soft, and get her out of here. We can't stay here if these people know where we are.' Turning, he called out, "Soft! Where are you?" He listened, hoping to hear her voice.

"I'm hiding up in this tree, to your left." She sprang down, wincing as she hit the ground heavily. "Ok, I know I've said this before dear, but I really do hate Monfernos now. And I mean REALLY hate them!"

Sleek dashed forward, nuzzling his head against the back of her neck. He laughed softly.

"I don't think anyone would say you're not allowed to, considering what that one did to you. Happy birthday. Are you alright?"

"Thanks, and apart from just injuring my leg further, and being woken up by something that wasn't my mate returning, I'm fine. The clouds actually cleared up slightly, so I healed a bit more today. Any chance we might be able to reach the next park tonight?" Sleek sighed.

"I don't think so… Not without exhausting you completely. The next park is about ten km's away. There's no way you'll be able to go that far during night, injured. During the day, maybe. But at night, when you naturally shut down? There's simply no chance." Soft lowered her head slowly, clearly disappointed.

"Hey," Sleek murmured. "Hey, don't worry. We can wait until tomorrow. We just need to wait a couple more hours, then we can move. Try and get some sleep, I can keep these guys knocked out."

"But you'll be tired tomorrow…"

"If I don't keep these guys knocked out, we could find ourselves in cages, ready to be sold. I'm completely healthy; I can take a few extra hours staying awake. Go get some sleep." Soft let out a gentle breath.

"Fine. But if you don't get some serious rest when we reach the next park, you-"

"Can expect to be severely scolded. I will, Soft, don't worry. By the time we get there, I'll be so tired you'd have to fight me to keep me awake. Now go." Soft walked over to a low bush, laying down and curling herself up. Her eyes were still open however.

"Soft, go to sleep."

"Hm…" she muttered back at him.

Barely a minute later, her breathing had slowed to the pace of one who's asleep.

"'Bout time," Sleek said under his breath, before resuming his guard over the unconscious humans. He wasn't looking forward to this.

* * *

"Come on Sleek, it's only a few streets away," Soft murmured into her mates ear. "You can go that far. You just have to get a bit further along, then you can rest."

"I know that," Sleek replied tiredly. "I'm just tired… Those guys kept waking up more often than I thought they would. And that damn Kadabra just wouldn't stay down for more than ten minutes…" Soft just sighed quietly with her head lowered. She felt about as tired as Sleek did, but she knew they had to keep going, She, at least, couldn't afford to stop for very long, not outside a park.

"You can get to the park, Sleek. You can get there. Just put one paw in front of the other." Sleek just groaned in response, his right hind leg collapsing.

"Hey!" Soft cried out. "None of that; get back up. You need to keep moving. Come on, if you don't get up yourself I'll have to drag you to the park! You know perfectly well that you don't want that to happen!"

Remarkably, (Soft hadn't really expected that to work) Sleek slowly stood up once more. Albeit, shakily. He was still on his four feet, that was the important thing.

After only a few minutes, Sleek and Soft were hidden in an alleyway, just one road crossing away from their goal. It was nowhere near the busiest street in the city, but it was, unfortunately, busy enough to ensure they'd have to be careful when they crossed. If anyone spotted them, they'd have a repeat of last night. Sleek was plain exhausted, while Soft was weak from travel and pollution. They couldn't afford to be spotted.

Soft carefully poke her head out of the alleyway entrance, keeping as close to the wall as possible. The sun was currently still off in the east, so staying hidden in shadows was a very good option at the moment.

'Well,' Soft thought. 'I can't see cars coming from the left or right… Ah, no, there's one now… We could probably cross when this one goes by…'

She called out quietly to Sleek, "Hey, get ready. When this car goes, we'll cross, ok?"

"Ok… As soon as we're hidden I'm collapsing. I'm way too tired." Soft laughed.

"Don't worry, I can keep an eye out for anything untoward. You need the rest." While Umbreons didn't really keep hours of any kind, (They didn't really tire just by being awake. An Umbreon could feasibly go an entire four days, with only light to medium activity, with only brief rests, no sleeping at all.) They did tend to slow down during the day. A side effect of being connected with the moon. It would be best for Sleek if he went to sleep as soon as possible.

The car flashed by. Soft looked out again for a bare second, and then said, "Go!" The two eeveelutions quickly ran across the road, not stopping until they reached some of the bushes and trees inside the park.

"Well," Sleek said, panting. "We're finally here. Now let's find somewhere we can hide."

Soft smiled. "Follow me. I know trees and bushes like the back of my paw."

She walked further into the park, pausing here and there, seemingly to sniff at the air. After a while, she stopped in front of a rather dense clump of bushes.

"Here we go," she said with a grin. "Now get in there and go to sleep Sleek. I'll keep guard. Besides, I get the feeling the clouds might clear for a few minutes soon. I can't make use of that if I'm hiding under a heap of leaves.

"Ok…" Sleek muttered, tiredness beginning to overpower him. He walked under the tangle of twigs and leaves, curling up and, finally, falling asleep.

Soft watched him fall asleep, smiling slightly. He tried so hard, just to keep her safe. It was really quite touching.

She settled herself at the base of a tree, and waited for the sun to show itself.

* * *

Sleek woke up gradually, slowly turning on various parts of his brain. After the time spent awake, that sleep had been deep enough to require his brain to all but shut down.

He wasn't used to sleeping so deeply. He supposed it must have been because he had been forced to keep those humans knocked out last night. Definitely one of his more tiring experiences so far in his life.

Sleek opened his eyes slowly. He looked around, trying to find Soft when he heard a voice. A human voice.

"-anted to see a Leafeon…" the voice said wistfully. It sounded like a young girl's voice. Perhaps nine years old.

"Do you mind if I pat you?" the girl continued. Sleek heard a faint purring noise, coupled with light footsteps. Too light to be a human.

'Soft must have been seen by her," Sleek thought, rather sleepily. 'I hope she doesn't tell her parents that Soft's here, or anything like that…'

Usually he would have been worried out of his mind that they had been discovered. But he was still tired, and the girl didn't sound like she'd tell anyone.

Sleek let his eyelids close again, drifting off to sleep.

* * *

**Well, I hope this wasn't too shoddy.**

**Just to clear a few things up.**

**1. I hold in this fic that Leafeon and Glaceon are evolved to due exposure to stones, like Flareon, Vaporeon, Jolteon. Glaceon is because of a new type of stone called a Frost stone.**

**2. I have it that Umbreons don't tire just by being awake. They need to actually do something to expend energy. So if one were to just sit, not moving, it could without sleep indefinitely. There is the problem of food though.**

**3. Umbreons heal slightly faster in shade. They heal much faster at night.**

**4. A Leafeon's healing capabilities depend on the weather. So permanent smog is not good for them. If they get injured, it could be a dang long time before they're anywhere near healed. Give 'em a full day of sunshine, and they'll heal from just about anything, given that it's not a mortal wound, and they can spend the entire day resting. Also, Leafeons can sort of choke up in pollution, if they stay out for too long away from trees and the like. The trees help by removing pollutants themselves, thus taking a large burden off of the photosynthesis capabilities of a Leafeon.**

**5. I know Umbreons don't learn shadow ball and dark pulse naturally. Sleek stole some TM's when he was younger.**

**-Eidorian999  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**I have Ash, Brock and Dawn put in an appearance. I just felt like. They're only going to be in here and the next chapter. That's all I plan for them to be in anyway. Oh, Pikachu's a girl in this by the way.**

**Well, Sleek and Soft got away from the pokenappers last chapter. Are they completely in the clear? Read on...**

* * *

Soft had been rather lucky today. The skies had cleared for an hour or so, letting sunlight stream down on parts of the city, including the park. She was now mostly recovered from that Monferno attack. Another period of sunshine like that would see her ready to get out of this polluted hell on earth.

She stretched her forelegs, rather like a cat. She'd always rather enjoyed stretching, unlike Sleek. He always regarded the action with distaste. Presumably he felt it as pain more than relief.

Soft looked over at her mate, smiling as she saw he was still asleep.

'He must have been really tired,' She thought. 'He usually doesn't sleep for more than three hours, yet it's been nearly six since we got here.'

She started walking around. After all, as they might be here for a couple of days, it couldn't hurt to know her way around the park. As she rounded a hedge, she heard a light voice and stopped.

"I can't wait until I'm ten… I want to have my own pokemon, and get out of this place… This place is so smelly."

Soft started creeping up slowly on where the voice was coming from. She placed her paws carefully, not wanting to snap the cliché twig and alert the human to her presence. Thankfully, being connected to nature as a whole as she was, she was able to avoid twigs with great ease.

"I don't know what pokemon I'd choose as my starter though… Piplup, Chimchar, Turtwig… They're all good. I dunno if I actually want one of them. There're other pokemon I like that I might be allowed to use… Riolu… Growlithe…"

Soft flinched slightly at that name. Growlithe might be smaller than she was, but their evolution was by far one of the more powerful fire pokemon known. It wasn't a good idea to go messing with one. Especially not if you were a grass type.

"I've still got to wait two more years though… I hate this city, I want to get out of it!"

'I can relate to that,' Soft though. She could see the human now. A young girl, presumably eight years old, if she only has to wait two more years for her pokemon licence. She was dressed in a black, knee length dress, with sleeves down to her elbows. Her dark brown hair was tied in a bun behind her head. She was facing away from Soft, so she crept up behind the girl, sitting down not far from her back. She was curious about this human.

Martha sighed. She was so bored! She was only in this park to get away from her parents. They didn't really care about her. The only reason they were going to let her get a pokemon licence was because they didn't want to look after her for any longer than that. That suited her just fine. She didn't want to be near them any longer than that.

But in the meantime, she had to think of how she could keep herself busy, entertained, distracted. Waiting another two years seemed intolerable to her. She laid herself back.

And jumped right into the air when she felt something behind her.

Soft hadn't been expecting the girl to lie down, so she hadn't had time to move. Consequently, the girl had felt her at her back, and, understandably, jumped. She was now standing more than two metres away from where she had been a bare second ago.

Sudden frights tended to do that to a girl. _(A/N Not an insult towards girls, ok?)_

Soft was now standing on all fours, backing away slightly. She didn't really know if this girl would tell anyone about her, start screaming, or anything like that. So she was getting ready to run.

"No, don't go," Martha said quickly when she saw the Leafeon backing away. "I won't hurt you. You just surprised me. I've always wanted to see a Leafeon." Martha took a small step forward. "Do you mind if I pat you?"

Soft hesitated. The girl seemed to be telling the truth. She made her mind up in favour of trusting her. Soft stepped forward, purring slightly.

Martha smiled. "Thanks, Leafeon. You don't know how much I've wanted to see one of you eeveelutions… Aside from getting my own pokemon, it's been one of my personal dreams." She frowned slightly. "What are you even doing in this city? The air'd be poison to you, wouldn't it?" Soft hesitated, thinking how best to answer, then lifted her paw and wobbled it.

The girl blinked in surprise. "Did you actually understand what I just said?" She asked incredulously. Martha couldn't believe what she had just seen. She knew most pokemon had a slight understanding of English, but this Leafeon seemed to really know what she was saying.

To her surprise the Leafeon sat back on her haunches and nodded her head up and down. 'Wow,' Martha thought. 'I can't believe it. It can actually understand what I'm saying!'

The happy moment was interrupted by strident voices calling out her name.

"Aw, man, now? Why can't my parents just leave me alone?" Martha complained, standing up and dusting herself off. She sighed. "Well, I guess I'd better go see what they want. See you later, Leafeon." She smiled as she saw the green pokemon nod it's head again. Martha kissed her first and second fingers, pressing them to the pokemon's forehead. "Bye," She whispered gently, before turning and walking off to find her parents.

Soft simply sat and watched the girl leave. It was a bit foolish perhaps, but she couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for the girl, having clearly dismissive parents. Sleek's parents had been like that. Cold and aloof. They'd made their own opinion of her clear ever since they had met.

She'd never liked them. Truthfully, she didn't think Sleek had either. He had always seemed to get along quite well with them, but there had been something in his tone whenever he spoke to or around them that didn't quite match up with his seeming happiness with them. Soft rather thought it had something to do with how his parents always made a point of attacking human-owned pokemon. Perhaps because they had been abandoned by their humans.

Sleek had been told repeatedly by his parents to stick his nose up at human-owned pokemon, but he had never really accepted that particular teaching. After all, Soft herself had been human owned at that time, and they had gotten on really well.

Soft sighed gently. She missed her trainer. Although perhaps it was for the best that she had had to move away, and been unable to take Soft with her. She _was_ very happy with Sleek after all, and her trainer had been more and more moody around the time.

She stood up, moving over to where Sleek was sleeping, ears laid back, tail flat on the ground, and laid down beside him. She giggled slightly. She hadn't seen him sleeping this deeply since he had spent practically an entire day hiding from Officer Jenny. That woman had simply not given up until Sleek had literally split her bike into two with iron tail. At that point, Jenny had evidently decided that chasing the rogue umbreon much longer was going to do more harm than good.

'Sleek must have been really exhausted,' She thought. 'He's never slept for this long. Oh well… I'm kinda glad… I wouldn't mind staying around here for a while. That girl was quite nice. I hope she gets a good starter pokemon… She deserves one, having parents like that.'

She jumped slightly when Sleek twitched his ears, half expecting his eyes to open. But they didn't and Sleek resumed breathing slowly. He was quite a peaceful sleeper.

Soft settled her head upon her paws, ready for a light rest.

* * *

"Can't believe it… We got beat, an' we didn't even see what hit us!"

"I hear ya… I'd like to find what punk did that, and give 'im a good thrashing…"

"No chance of dat… Prob'ly moved now. Weren't there when we woke up."

"But it's gotta be in the city still, ain't it?"

"Maybe… The Leafeon anyways. But maybe that other thing's wit it…"

"That's what I'm thinkin'. Maybe we could still find 'em…"

* * *

"Well, you've got all eight gym badges Ash, I'd say you should start some serious training."

"Don't have to tell me twice Dawn. No way we're doing it in this city though, way too dirty."

"Yeah," Said Brock. "I can't believe this city, it's more polluted than a Muk!"

"Pikaa…" Pikachu muttered.

"Aw, don't worry buddy," Ash said with a grin on his face. "We'll be at the Pokemon Centre soon. You won't have to worry about the air in there."

"Chaa!" Pikachu squealed happily.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Centre," Nurse Joy said, a smile on her face.

Sone things never change.

"Oh, nurse Joy, I-" Brock's words of love were cut short by Croagunk striking him in the side, with his fingers glowing a bright purple.

That's one of them.

"Wow, Croagunk's getting faster at that," Ash said, surprised. "Usually Brock manages to get the first sentence out."

"Yeah, he usually does, doesn't he? I guess Croagunk's getting tired of him hitting on Nurse Joy."

Pikachu simply shook his head ruefully, sighing.

"Nurse Joy, our pokemon are really tired, could you look after them for us?"

"Sure thing. A good nights rest should see them all better."

"Thanks, Nurse."

Ash turned to Dawn. "Well, now what should we do?"

Dawn shrugged. "I did see a map, over there on the wall. We could take a look at that, and see what there is."

The two of them (Brock was still immobilised.) walked over to the map, both wondering whether it was worth their time, with the city as polluted as it was.

"Hmm…" Dawn murmured. The map didn't really show anything good, apart from a number of parks. "I dunno if we should bother, this place is just a work city I think."

"Yeah," Ash replied. "Looks like, but I don't exactly want to spend the rest of the day in here."

Dawn shrugged. "Going to one of the parks seems sensible… Really the only places _to_ go here."

"S'pose… Reckon we can drag Brock away from Nurse Joy?"

Dawn grinned. "Do you mean forever, or just for now? 'Cos the first one would be no. A big one too. The second… Maybe."

Ash smirked. "That's good enough for me!"

Half a minute later, the three of them, plus Pikachu, Piplup and Croagunk, were outside.

"The nearest park is off that way," Dawn stated, pointing. "We just go down this street, take a left, and keep going."

"Let's get going then," Ash said.

* * *

Sleek woke up quickly this time, being fully rested. After a sleep that deep, he'd be able to keep going for at least the next two days completely fine, before needing any significant rest.

He lifted his head, moving more slowly when he noticed Soft next to him, not wanting to wake her. She opened her eyes anyway, looking straight up at his face, smiling.

"Don't worry Sleek, I was just resting. You feeling better now?"

Sleek nodded. "Much. I could probably outrun a Sneasel." Soft laughed.

"Don't over exaggerate, Sleek. You know you'd never be able to do that. Even at night. They get power from the moon and darkness as well, you know."

He shrugged. "I'd still put up a good show." Sleek paused. "Did I hear a human girl around here earlier?" he asked curiously.

"Probably," Soft replied. "There was one that came along about an hour ago. She noticed me when she accidentally leaned back onto me." She grinned. "I hadn't been expecting that, so I didn't get out of the way. The jump she made was quite impressive. If she could do that anytime she wanted, she'd be an Olympic high jumper no problem." Sleek raised an eyebrow.

"Remember what you said about exaggerating, dear?" he asked, slightly sceptical. Soft simply smiled.

"_You_ were exaggerating," she said. "_I_ was telling the truth. There's a difference."

Sleek snorted. "Sometimes I wonder why I fell in love with you…" he muttered, standing up. Soft smirked up at him, knowing he didn't mean it.

"The important thing about that statement," she said primly. "Is that it implies you do, nonetheless." Sleek twitched his ears in annoyance.

"Alright, you win this one," he said grudgingly.

"Don't I always?" Soft couldn't resist putting in one last two-bits worth.

"Bah! I'm going to find something to eat, I'm hungry."

"Ok, I'm going to stay here for a while. My feet feel kinda sore."

"See you later." Sleek walked off; reasonably sure he could find something to eat. If he had to, he could always scavenge off another pokemon.

He stopped at the edge of the bushes, wanting to make sure no one was around. There were a few humans, but they were walking further along the street, so they shouldn't be a problem.

He dashed across the road, quickly ducking into an alleyway. He listened, hoping to hear ahead for his next dash. He did hear voices, and footsteps, but unless he was mistaken, they weren't heading this way… He dashed out again-

Only to find that he was indeed mistaken, running face first into what seemed at first to be a bright yellow rat. And a large one at that.

"Hey," he cried out in annoyance. "Watch it, you yellow rodent!"

Unfortunately that turned out to be the wrong thing to say.

"Hey!" it yelled back. "You're a fine one to talk, Mr. redeyes!" Sleek's ears flattened until they were horizontal.

"Look, I'm not the one tailing around after a mangy human, like a furball in slavery!"

"WATCH IT! NO ONE INSULTS MY TRAINER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT! YOU CAN KISS YOUR SLEEK FUR GOODBYE, COS WHEN I'M DONE, YOU'RE GONNA RESEMBLE A SANDSLASH'S BACK ON A BAD FUR DAY!"

Sleek realised he'd made a major mistake when he saw that the sparks on the Pikachu's cheeks were the size of it's own eyes.

"Woah," he tried to protest. "Back up a little, would you accept an apology?"

Thankfully, the yellow mouse calmed down slightly, although it's cheeks were still sparking. "Maybe. You'd have to make it a damn good apology. I don't take insults like that lightly. Not about someone who saved my life." Sleek's eyes widened.

"Ah, that would explain why you got so angry."

"Damn straight, so start apologising!"

"I am eternally sorry, from the depths of my heart and marrow of my bones that I insulted you and your trainer."

Pikachu blinked. "Ok, I'll admit, that WAS a damn good apology. Accepted."

Sleek sighed in relief. He'd been dreading going back to Soft, only to have her ask about his spiky fur. After all, Umbreons NEVER had spiky fur. _Ever_.

"Thanks. My mate would have been furious at me if she knew I got in a fight over something like that…" Pikachu laughed.

"I don't think I'll ever be in that situation. I'm quite content sticking around with my trainer. He even tried to release me, and I still stuck with him."

Sleek looked around. "Speaking of which, where is your trainer?" Pikachu twitched an ear.

"He and his friends are coming. I ran ahead, I don't like the air in this city."

Sleek rolled his eyes. "I hear ya. My mate's a Leafeon, so this foul place is like a death trap to her. We're trying to get out, but it'll take a while longer. She doesn't handle travelling in smog very well."

"That would kinda suck." Pikachu paused. "Ah, here they come. Do you wanna meet them? They're really nice, I don't think they'd try and catch you." Sleek snorted.

"It's completely open to debate whether or not they'd actually be able to," he said confidently. "After all, it's not very often that a wild Umbreon knows TM moves that it can't learn otherwise, is it?" He smirked as the Pikachu's eyes widened.

"You're kidding me, what moves do you know?"

"Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse. One or two others, but I think I'll keep those up my sleeve. Figuratively speaking."

"Please?"

"… Fine, one other." Sleek's smirk became a full smile as he prepared to reveal his pride and joy.

Pikachu was about to tell the Umbreon to hurry up and spill when it's eyes suddenly glowed a bright crimson, instead of their normal dull red. "Look to your left," it said.

She did so, and nearly let loose a Thunder as she saw a number of small rocks floating next to him, with a bright red aura around them. He looked back at the Umbreon with eyes as wide as saucers.

"You know _Psychic_?!?!" she asked incredulously. "How'd you get your paws on a TM like that? It's one of the rarest! I've never heard of one not being guarded by a miniature army!"

"I know, that's why I took the opportunity to take it. I assume the humans who had been guarding it had sufficient reasons to leave. Mine not to question why."

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Pikachu's friends.

"There you are Pikachu! Woah, what's that?"

"Ah, don't worry, he's a friend," Pikachu said, despite knowing they'd only hear parts of her own name.

Sleek rolled his eyes. "Fool. You know they can't understand you." Pikachu grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, I know that. I can't help it. Beside, Ash does seem to almost understand me sometimes."

"Ash is your trainer I take it?"

"Yep. What's your name?"

"Sleek. And before you ask, I was given it before becoming an Umbreon. Would you mind my asking your name?" He was surprised to see the Pikachu blush.

"Er, hehe, I'd kinda prefer not to say, it's sorta embarrassing…"

"Please?"

"… You're evil. Just thought you should know that. It's Rosie…"

Sleek didn't so much as twitch a cheek muscle. "Hey, it's better than one of those cliché electric type names, like Bolt, Jolt, Volt, Shocker, you know the ones I mean."

Rosie shuddered. "Yes I do. I always feel sorry for those Pikachu."

The entire exchange was observed by Ash and co.

"What do you reckon they're talking about?" he asked the others. Dawn shrugged, while Brock only seemed thoughtful

"I'd say they're going through introductions. Names and such. Pikachu blushed a few seconds ago, and it shuddered just now. Most people shudder after hearing really bad names, or blush after giving theirs, if it's an embarrassing one."

"I know I would," Dawn said laughing. Ash simply shrugged.

"How could you tell though, Brock? What they're saying, I mean." Brock sighed.

"I just get a hunch, ok? I'm a breeder, this is the kinda stuff I make it my business to know. And one thing is that pokemon appear to have their own names, given to them by their parents just like we do. We don't know them, cos we can't understand them. But they have them. If their trainer gives them a nickname, then they seem to discard their old name, unless released, at which point they reclaim it. I just think that that's what they were talking about, that's all. I don't know for certain."

Rosie looked up at the humans, then grinned at Sleek. "Really dense, aren't they?" she asked, smiling. Sleek rolled his eyes.

"Tell me about it. Silly humans, not understanding our language…"

* * *

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this. I quite like it, but I'm biased, so I would like some other opinions on it.**

**Forgot to say, but Eevees are named after their fur, in a way. Sleek had very sleek when he was an Eevee, hence his name. Likewise with Soft.**

**Pikachu's (Rosie's) name was completely random.**

**And to elucidate my previous A/N about Sleek stealing TM's... He went on a thieving spree. Each TM just made him all the more powerful, enabling him to get more. Psychic is literally his pride and joy, but he doesn't use it often, cos if some human found out, he could say good bye to being free. He can evade Officer Jenny for an entire day no problem, but even he can't shake off a truly determined trainer forever.**

**His currently revealed TM's are Iron Tail, Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball and Psychic. And it is actually possible for an umbreon to learn those moves, I checked. I may or may not give him one or two more. Don't count on it though. He's practically overpowered as it is.**

**Remember, this story is about Sleek and Soft. Ash and Co. are merely temporary additions.**

**-Eidorian999  
**


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